Moving On
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: With things calming down after the war, Harry decides it's time for the next big step in his life: getting a place of his own. One shot. Written for the "There's a First Time for Everything" challenge in the HPFC.


**Author's Note:** Much thanks to KeepCalmAndWriteSomething for not only creating this challenge, but choosing my character and his first time. It's been too long since I wrote about Harry, and this was a lot of fun!

**Moving On**

Sometimes there were perks to being a wizard – glorious moments when Harry could revel in being able to travel in the blink of an eye or summon something from another room without getting up from the couch – but today was one of the rare days when magic could not assist him.

Things had been crazy in the last few months. Between rebuilding the wizarding world and trying to get his personal affairs in order, he'd barely had time for anything else – in particular, finding a permanent place to live.

It had been an obvious choice to stay at the Burrow at first. He doubted Molly and Arthur would have allowed anything else at the time, but Harry quickly realized how much of a problem it was staying there.

The house was crowded to begin with, but even more so with friends and family visiting for Fred's funeral. He was too busy and tired to care at first about the long bathroom lines and the dark mood. He was grieving too, after all.

By Christmas things had settled down considerably. Hogwarts was reopened, the Ministry was running semi-smoothly, and life moved on.

"I can't do it, Harry," Ron whispered gravely one night as they played chess in Ron's room. Harry had long ago been given Percy's old room as his own.

"I can't stay here much longer. It was all right before. Charlie was here, and we had people coming and going. But he's going to be gone again, back to Romania after the holidays. And Hermione and Ginny'll be going back to school. D'you know what that means?"

"More food and less noise?" Harry guessed.

"We'll be alone with Mum and Dad. Mum's already crazy and overprotective – she's only going to get worse once she doesn't have Ginny and Charlie to fawn over too."

"So what are you going to do about it? Tie Charlie down?"

"I want to move out."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious."

"Move where?"

"I dunno yet. Maybe Hogsmeade. We could probably find a cheap flat above a shop somewhere. Then Hermione and Ginny can visit us on weekends."

"Us? Why do I get the feeling I'm being dragged into something," Harry said with a groan, nudging his queen into position for a check.

"Well, I won't be able to pay for a place on my own, not yet. So I figured we'd get a place together." Harry sighed. "Come on, it's not like you're gonna want to stay here with Mum and Dad, _alone_."

He had a point, but Harry was willing to admit it just yet.

They didn't talk about it again until the house was well and truly empty. The holidays were over and everyone had gone away, and Molly and Arthur were visiting with Bill and Fleur, just home from France.

"So I've started looking at cheap flats," Ron started casually, getting them each a bottle of butterbeer.

"Ron, I haven't even agreed to anything."

"Seriously, mate, what're you waiting for? We both know you're not going to stay here forever."

"Yeah…" Harry admitted quietly.

"So?"

"So I thought the first place I got would be my own."

"What?"

Harry sighed and spread his hands. "It has nothing to do with you, okay? It's just… I've never really had a place all to myself, you know? Privet Drive was never a home, and Hogwarts was great but it wasn't mine, and even here. I can't relax. I'm still living out of a trunk."

Ron nodded slowly, sipping his drink. "I get it. Really, I do," he added, noticing Harry's look of disbelief. "It'd be brilliant to room together again but, yeah, we can't do that forever either, eh?"

"Hopefully not."

That had been the end of it. Ron focused on searching for a roommate and was seriously considering moving in with George for the convenience of not having to pay rent. Harry, on the other hand, had it much harder.

He'd started looking in Hogsmeade like Ron had suggested, but everything was over-priced and everyone knew his name, which he wasn't wild about. He looked in muggle buildings in London next, needing his solitude as well as easy access to Diagon Alley and the Ministry. Unfortunately, none of the flats he found were what he was looking for. Within walking distance to work or not, he still needed a fireplace large enough to floo. And how would he even go about explaining the owls to muggles?

It was days like this he needed Hermione's help, but she was way too busy catching up on her studies to help with a house hunt, so he was on his own.

Percy was over for dinner that night, and Ron must have told him their situation because he asked Harry how the search was going when they had a moment alone.

"I want to get a place in a magical neighborhood, but I don't want the, um … the attention. Know what I mean?"

"Sure, I can understand that. I'm assuming you want it in London."

"Preferably."

"Hmm." He sipped thoughtfully at his tea for a moment before smiling at Harry. "You haven't been to my flat yet, have you?"

"I don't think so."

"You should come over tomorrow, see if you like it."

"Percy, I appreciate the offer, but I'm not really looking for a flat mate."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'm not asking you to move in with me! For Merlin's sake, you've been hanging around my brothers too long. My building is magical, right in the heart of muggle London. Five minute walk from the Ministry, if you're into that sort of thing. Everyone mostly stays to themselves."

"It sounds perfect."

And it was. Harry rented the flat directly above Percy's the very next day, even managing to afford a second bedroom for the weekends he took care of Teddy.

And for the first time in forever, he was truly at home.


End file.
